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NATIONAL GO FISHING DAY – Unless you live under a rock, you already know that it’s Father’s Day. It is the day that we celebrate the men in our lives whether is be our father, our children’s father or any other father for that matter.

My father passed away nearly 10 years ago. I will always miss him and wish that I could hear his stories just one more time.

When I was a teen, we built a family cottage. It was on an island in large Lake Simcoe. We had to travel by boat in summer and by snowmobile in winter to reach the cottage. For me, the prospect of crossing a frozen lake is as exciting as braving the rough waters in a boat. I love it all!

Dad was an avid fisherman and took us out fishing in the boat quite often but it was ice fishing that I really loved.

Our fish hut was several miles past our island and he would wake us at four or five in the morning to head there in the dark cold to catch some trout and whitefish.

I loved sitting on the hard wooden bench with my dad while we watching the ice fishing sticks. We would drink thick dark coffee that he brewed on the little propane heater and count down the hours until we could dig into mom’s fantastic egg salad sandwiches.

I have always said that my best conversations with my dad were either over a jigsaw puzzle or in a fish hut.

NATIONAL PIGS IN A BLANKET DAY – I am confused. A mini wiener wrapped in baked dough is called a Pig In A Blanket. A longer wiener wrapped in a bun is called a Hot Dog. Why the difference in animal references? If the wiener is made from beef, would they be called Cows in a Sleeping Bag?

I think Pigs In A Blanket are delicious so I decided to check out Pinterest to see the different recipes for these popular appetizers. I did not expect the variations of piggies.

There are:

cheesy
jalapeño
nacho
bacon (of course)
bacon and cheese
french toast
cinnamon roll
pretzel dough
carrot (vegetarian)
low carb
ones that even look like little pigs
You can use cocktail wienies or full sized franks. You can dip them, coat them with spices or line a plate and fill the center with chili-cheese.

I have a new-found respect for the versatile Pigs In A Blanket appetizer. How do you serve them?

EARTH DAY – Unless you live under a rock, everyone knows that today is Earth Day. It is the global celebration of the third rock from the sun and all it’s glory.

This year’s Earth Day campaign is for Environmental and Climate Legacy. According to the official Earth Day website: “Environmental and climate literacy is the engine not only for creating green voters and advancing environmental and climate laws and policies but also for accelerating green technologies and jobs”.

Many people celebrate Earth Day by turning off all (or most) of their lights at dark for an hour or two but there are many more celebrations to be found. One huge event is the March for Science in Washington DC. Planting trees and avoiding the use of plastic are also encouraged.

Visit this link to learn more about Earth Day and what you can do to benefit our planet:

NATIONAL FRAGRANCE DAY – did you know that our memory for smells could be the strongest due to the location of the olfactory bulb? Researchers, with the help of the FMRI, have determined that this important piece of our brain is located next to the hippocampus. The hippocampus is involved in processing emotions and making new memories and lights up when exposed to a new odour.

Smell is the strongest sense with over 1000 receptors whereas vision and touch have four or so receptors each. Fragrances require much more processing by the brain, having even a chemical component. Aromatherapy uses this chemical component to help our bodies with a miriad of targeted uses.

We can usually conjure up unpleasant smells much easier than pleasant smells. Certain fragrances can be wonderful anchors taking us back to childhood memories and feelings in an instant.

Food smells are among my favourites although the smell of fresh cut wood is one of my top pleasant anchors. My family business was lumber so this fragrance brings back wonderful memories of my father and our family. What is your favourite fragrance?

NATIONAL PEARS HÉLÈNE DAY – When deciding what to post about today, I looked at all of the National Day designations. National Everything I Think Is Wrong Day just seemed … wrong. National Kick Butts Day is a US designation concerning smoking cessation and National Shoe The World Day seems bigger than a day long celebration. Perhaps it should be called International Shoe the World Decade.

This has left me with Pears Hélène, another day celebrating food. Today’s food is a fruit (which is healthy) and has less allergens than most other fruit (which is good news). Here is a fun fact: there are over 3,000 varieties of pears grown throughout the world. I know of two off the top of my head: Barlett and Bosc. Wow, do I have a lot of pear studying to do!

Pears Hélène is a poached pear with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. Sounds delicious and worth celebrating, much better than the one about being wrong.

NATIONAL CEREAL DAY – I have definitely gone through phases of my life when I have eaten a lot of cereal – often straight from the box. My favourite childhood cereal was the teeth-coating Captain Crunch. There is nothing like rooting around in a nearly full box of cereal to find the toy. Good times. Although I am in a non-cereal phase of my life, I can appreciate this tasty not-just-for-breakfast food.

My mom was a very busy lady and my dad would often fend for himself at dinnertime. He enjoyed cooking for himself. In fact, he kept a list of his fave dinners on the inside of a kitchen cupboard as a reminder. But when asked what he was eating when Mom was out, he would always say in a drama-filled voice “I guess I’ll have cereal.”

It always made me laugh because I knew he was likely cooking parsnips, the only food my mother hated. I am very lucky because the torch has been passed to my husband. When I tell him I will be away for an evening, he will ask in a shaky voice, “Do we have any cereal?”.

NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY – tequila, triple sec, lemon or lime and lots of crushed ice! What could be better? According to Jimmy Buffet, looking for my lost shaker of salt and wastin away are great ways of enjoying the Margarita.

The Magarita has become the most popular tequila cocktail and has also become the focus of many happy hours. It also has fruit iin it so it is healthy too!

NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY – well, it’s Saturday, our big fundraising gig is today and we are supposed to drink wine. Ok, I am in! Wine is a universal ready-made cocktail of yumminess. Over the years, my favourite has shifted from Chardonnay to Shiraz to Pinot Grigio with a little of everything in between. Wine, in moderation, has many health benefits and can be paired beautifully with all types of food! One of my favourite gatherings are wine and cheese parties because the different palates and offerings are so interesting! Cheers 🍷

NATIONAL BATTERY DAY – FUN FACT: the alkaline battery and the lithium battery were invented by a Canadian dude! His name was Lewis Urry and he lived in Pontypool Ontario. He improved upon primitive designs to develop the small pack of energy that runs our lives and now … cars! Celebrate by counting everything that you use in a day powered by batteries and raise a glass of wine to Lewis Urry! Cheers 🍷

NATIONAL CRAB STUFFED FLOUNDER DAY – a dish of crab stuffing wrapped in a whole flounder and baked. This dish is most popular on the East and Gulf Coasts and can be paired with a nice Riesling or Chardonnay (notice how I slipped the wine drinking in again?). Cheers 🍷

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